Guess what our Sales Director is up to in his spare time…

from Paul : ” We moved into our house in Sept 2002.

We cut back the 4 foot high grass in the back garden to find a half dug pond type shape hole in the corner.The following March I made a start and after 2 weekends of hard graft the liner,filter and UV was up and running.I could not wait to get fish in so finished work early one evening and collected 6 small fish,a couple of ghost koi,some fan tails and 2 grass carp.The plants soon followed and I was very happy and proud of what I had achieved.

Around 18 months later I had around 18 fish,all still small but growing nicely,I got up one morning to find a pond leak…all I could get at the time was 2 kids paddling pools….which had to do.

It was a bank holiday weekend….I fetched breeze blocks,sand and cement and set about making it deeper and higher by about a foot,which took up most of my wages but I didn’t care,I was more than happy with the result of my pond upgrade and had all fish saved and well.

This lasted till 2013,I went into the pond to split an overgrown water iris,but split the liner 16″ inches from the bottom of the shallow end of the pond.I borrowed a vat and the fish moved in for 3 weeks holiday while again I made the pond deeper and raised a little bit more.

Which is how it stands today,slightly kidney shaped and holds just over 3000 gallons.To help maintain the water and to keep the koi happy I have a Yamitsu Mega media filter box (2500 gallons) fed by an intrepid Eco 8000 using a 1.5 inch pipe which passes through a 25uv light from TMC pond clear,which has been great.

I aerate the pond with a V30 air pump,which seems up to the job.The liner is a 3mm butyl with the old 2mm butyl underneath.The pond is just 4.5 ft deep with a higher step.The pond construction is mainly brick and breeze blocks,some decking and finished off with slabs and pebbles.

I have 16 koi of all sizes and feed them mainly on wheatgerm.

I am at the limit on filtration so am looking at options to improve this this year.

I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy koi keeping and gardening,when I’m not racing cars round circuits (another hobby) helps to keep me sane and relax after busy days at work.

I am lucky to be the first club pond visit of the year which is on Wednesday 10th May,which again is a first for me having never visited another club members pond before.Hope to have my garden ship shape soon.A lick of paint and a good tidy up should do it. I have been keeping koi,goldfish and carp at my parents home and now at my own for 12 years.”